As part of the development team at Saffron we see lots of new technologies and frameworks emerging on a weekly basis and it can sometimes be hard to pick out which of these new offerings will be the one that you want to experiment with next, but since the launch of the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) we’ve been itching for the right project to come along that will allow us to get our toes wet and create an application for the desktop. For us, that project was our Assessment Workbench tool that had recently been made available to download on our website.

On 8 May, two of our people spoke at the eLearning Network event about creating effective and engaging learning content. We talked about how important it is to give people an excellent first impression of e-learning, and how to go about getting it right first time. We then looked at what good learning content really looks like – how do you create something that’s engaging, relevant and effective? And finally – because we at Saffron don’t believe in settling for ‘good’ – we considered what you can do to turn something good into something great. Our presentation slides can be downloaded here.

There are many examples that I could put forward relating to my title ‘learning on the go’ – such as the time I was ruthlessly knocked off my bike by a BMW. I won’t bore you with the details as most people who know me will have switched off by now, thinking that I’m going to try and drum up sympathy votes. Suffice to say that what I have learnt from my accident is that if you are going to get run over then it’s best done at the start of the week in the morning (as opposed to Friday evening), but more importantly I’ve learnt that you should always wear a helmet and never second guess what other people are thinking.

e-Learning design is about serious stuff like transforming information into a format that really teaches people and helps them to retain it. Building effective interfaces and graphical representations for this purpose involves a good dose of dealing with content and data. But this doesn’t mean your design has to be dull and serious. The end learner wants to be engaged and so do you.

I have been thinking more and more lately about the general economic conditions we are working in, and what businesses need to be doing to survive and thrive in today’s changing and challenging environment. We hear a lot about the importance of being agile but what does this really mean and why is it so critically important?

When you’re creating an e-learning course, where do you start? You might begin by creating the overall theme or concept. The ‘look and feel’ and design mock ups are probably developed fairly early on. You write your storyboard content and this leads on to decisions about functionality and technology. Soon after this you might select your voiceover artists or video actors.

A few months ago, intrigued as to what all the fuss was about, I signed up to Twitter to find out why on earth it appeared to be taking over our lives and taking up countless newspaper columns. Since then, its popularity certainly hasn’t died down and recently, even more celebrities have been tweeting, whether it’s Barack Obama drumming up support for his election campaign, Oprah sending her first Tweet live on air or Demi Moore expressing her love for Britain’s Got Talent’s singing sensation Susan Boyle. There definitely seems to be a link between Twitter and recognition, reputation or status – it was a clever move of Obama’s to exploit it for publicity purposes and no doubt Demi’s declaration of appreciation for the surprise star increased YouTube’s hits on the video of that particular episode and therefore the singer’s popularity. And it works both ways: the traffic to Twitter increased by 43% thanks to thousands of viewers watching Oprah become hooked right before their very eyes.

Working for Saffron

We’re seeking individuals who can bring something special to Saffron. Whether you’re a graduate or somebody with experience in elearning we are always on the lookout for the best talent!
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